The demand from the professors, first reported by The Daily Signal in December, comes after law enforcement found “Death to Jews” signs, terrorist flags, and guns and ammunition, at the home of two sisters who led a Students for Justice in Palestine chapter on campus. Both have been banned from the school.
A warrant for the police raid, which was conducted last November, was approved after sisters Jena Chanaa and Nora Chanaa were suspected of participating in vandalism on the George Mason campus that included spray painting “student intifada” on the student center.
A third George Mason student, an Egyptian national, was arrested last month by the FBI for allegedly planning an attack on the Israeli consulate in New York.
Apparently concerned about the FBI arrest and the search warrant raid, 16 professors put their names on an email sent to George Mason’s president, Gregory Washington.
“It would be very nice and indeed useful right now to be able to tell colleagues, friends, and reporters who are inquiring that the university administration has done everything it could to disassociate itself from those who have been fomenting antisemitic, pro-terrorist sentiment on campus,” the message says, “but we both know that would be false.”
The email went on to argue the administration could no longer treat “overt pro-terrorist organizing at GMU as solely a matter of freedom of speech,” the Signal story says.
Dr. Michelle Cretella, of Advocates Protecting Children, says the tone of the email suggests the professors are demanding better security on the campus.
After following the story, Cretalla points out the firearms and ammunition lawfully belonged to a family member. What else was found in the home, such as a “Death to Jews” sign, is concerning.
“It certainly raises concerns about some of the activists on campus,” she allows.
